Call-distributing telephone system.



H. P. GLAUSEN. CALL DISTRIBUTING TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV 16. 1911.

Patented Feb. 16, 1315.

3 SEE TS-SHEET l.

21a y' if H. P. CLAUSEN. mu,v DISTRIBUTING TELEPHONE SYSTEM,

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1911. I 1,128,660, I v Patented Feb. 16,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W171] E55 E5 1 [nvanfur H. PJCLAUS EN.

CALL, DISTRIBUTING TELEPHONE SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED NOV.16, 1911.

1,328,666,, Patented Feb.16,1'915.

3 SHEETS-SEEK?! 3.

gym/35:55 V fnvenfur m/ m f2 4 I U Henr UNITED sTAT-Es PATENT orincn-HENRY P. CLAUSEN, OF ROCHESTER, NEVJ YORK, ASSIGNOR. BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

original application filed June 26, 1911, Serial No. 635,296. Dividedand this application filed Noyember To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, HENRY P. CLAUSEN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Rochester, county of Monroe, State of New York, haveinvented certainnew and useful Improvements in Call-DistributingTelephone Systems, of'which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to call-distributing telephone systems.

This application is a division of my application Serial Number 635296,filed June In systems of this class the incoming telephone calls areautomatically distributed before idle telephone operators, so that thework of the various operators is equalized.

my invention I selectthese busy telephonelinesthose originating, say,five calls an hour or overand connect them with automatic distributerswitches at the central office, leaving the other lines to terminatebefore operators in the usual way. Y

My system further provides means for preventing a call which originateson one of the distributed lines from appearing before an operator who atthat time has one or more unanswered manual calls upon each division ofher section of'the switchboard.

My, system further provides means for preventing a call which originatesupon a distributedline from appearing before an operator who at thattime has one unanswered distributed" call upon each division of hersection of the switchboard; in other words, my system provides means ford stributing, before the regular manual operators who are not burdenedwithfunansweredcalls of either class, the calls originating upon thebusiest lines in the exchange. a

Serial No. 660,560.

One advantage of this system is the economy of installation. Switchesfor automatically distributing incoming calls can notbe installed at aslow a cost as the apparatus associated with the line of a regularmultiple switchboard, and it is, therefore, extravagant and unnecessaryto provide distributing switches for lines which originate an average ofless than, say, five calls per hour. 7

Another advantage of my system is the incentive which it furnishes theoperators for answering calls promptly. Each operator may be in chargeof 100 regular incoming lines and may have, in. addition to those, 10call-distributing trunks. The

operators may be paid their regular salaries for handling the regularlines and may be paid piece-work rates in accordance with the numberofcalls answered upon their call-distributing trunks. It will be seenthat no callwill appear upon one of these call-distributing trunks whenmore than one unanswered call appears before the operator, either amongher regular lines or among the call-distributingv trunks. The

operator will therefore'endeavor to answer all calls promptly so thather call-distributing trunks will at all times be free to receive thecalls of distributed lines. This results in prompt attention and quickservice.

Other features of invention will be pointed out in the followingdescription and claims. Y

. My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which allapparatus is shown in its normal or unactuated condition.

Figure-1 illustrates two lines terminating in automatic distributingswitches and one regular telephone line. Fig. 2 illustratesthe answeringand multiple jacks of the regular telephone line, the multiple jacks forthe distributed telephone lines, and the oper ators call distrihutlngtrunk circuits to which these] lines have access, also the cirwits andapparatus for barring calls on. the call-distributing trunks. whenunanswered calls appear before the operator, and the counter circuitsfor recording the number of distributed. calls; Fig. 3 illustrates theoperators cord 'circuit for use with either the regular manual or thecall-distributing trunks, and also illustratesa regular-subscribers linewith which the cords-may be connected.

Subscribers stations 1,2, 3 and 4 are each tacts 12 and 13 of cutofl"relay 14' and" through the coil 15 of line relay-16 to conductor 17,which extends'to the live pole of battery A. The limb.8 of this'subscribers line extends to' the central ofli'ce and thence throughcontacts 18 and 19 of cutoflf relay '14" and the coil 20 of cut-in relay'21,

v to ground. a The removal of the receiver at subscribers station 1closes the circuit in this path and actuates relays 16 and 21. Theactuation of relay21 closes its, contacts 22 and 23 and theactuation ofrelay 16.

closes itsFcontactsj24 and -A circuit is thus completed from batteryconductor'17, through the interrupter 27, the winding of ,0 motor magnet28, conductor 29, contacts25 and 24 of line relay 16, contacts and 31 ofcutofi'. relay"14,- contacts 23 and 22 of cut-in relay 21, privateconductor 33, segmerit 34," brush 35 and busy contacts 36,

35' 37- and of the distributing switch to ground, these busy contactsbeing grounded, 'aswill be hereinafter descrfed. The current in thispath causes the operation ofthe motor magnet 28 and the step-by-stepmovement of the brushes of the distribution switch imtil the brush 35arrives upon the man-grounded contact 39. At this time cur rent flowsfrom battery conductor 17, through interrupter 27, the coil 28 of themotor magnet, conductor 29, contacts 25 and 24 of line relay 16,contacts 30 and 31 of cut-oft relay 14, conductor 42, now-closedcontacts and 44 and coil 45 of line relay 16, conductor-46 and the coil47 of cut-ofi' relay 14, to ground. 'The coil 47 of cutoil' relay 14 isof high resistance as com pared with the winding of motor magnet 28, andtherefore the cut-0E relay 14 is now aciuated without giving anadditional. step to the =.?.istributing switch,

Upon the actuation of cut-oil relay 14 the circuit of the motor magnetis interrupted at contacts 30 (and. 31 of cut-oil relay 14 and a lockingcircuitis completed which maintains the actuation of-relays 14, 16,

and 21. This circuit maybe traced as follows: from battery conductor 17,'throug h the coil 48 of cut-oil relay 14, the coil 49 of 6 cut-in-relay21, conductor 50,-contaots' 51 5 and 31 ot cut-ofi' relay l4, conductor42,.conv

.tacts 43 and 44and coil 45 of line relay, 16, conducto'r46 and thecoil47 ofcut-ofi relay 14, to ground. 1

The actuation 'ofcut-off relay. 14 closes ItS'COHtaCtS 18 and 52," and12 and. 53', ex-I'm tendingthe limbs 8 and 7 'of the telephone linethrough'contacts 54 and 55, :and 56 t and -57- of-cut-in relay 21 tothe, segments.

58 and 59 of the. distributer switch. The

segment 58 is now connected, through brush J5 and contact 61, withconductor 62 which connects with earth through contacts 63 tacts 74 and75, thus connecting the ground pole of battery through contacts 76-and77 of relay 65, private conductor 7 8, contacts 39, brush 35, segment34, conductor 33, con

vtacts 22 and 23 of cut-in relay 21, conductor 42 and contacts 43' and44 of linerelay 16 to the coil 45' of that relay. The ground. connectionon the coil 45 of this relay shunts thecurrent away from thecoil 45 ofrelay 16 and the coil 47 of cut-oil relay 14; line relay 16 thereforeresumes its norma'l.-' position but the cut-offand cut-in relays 14 and21 are now maintained actuated from 10c battery conductor 17, through.coil 48 of relay 1'4, coil 49 of relay 21, conductor 50,-, contacts 51and 31 of relay 14, contacts 23 and 22 of relay 21, conductor 33,segment 34, brush-35 and contact 39 of the distrihuter switch, conductor78, contacts 77 and 76 of trunk cut-oil relay 65 .andcontacts 74 and 75of trunk-relay 72, to ground. The closure of contacts 75 and 74 of relay72 also places a ground connectionupon all of the other privateconductors extending to this particular operators group. This circuitmay be traced from ground, through 5011- tacts 75 and 74' of trunk relay72, conductor 80, contacts 81 and 82 of key 83, common conductor 84,contacts 82 and 81 of keys 83 associated with other trunks, contacts 76'and 77 and private conductors 78 of all.

other trunks in this particular 'group not at'that timebusy, and theprivate contacts '39 of all of these trunks on their particular'distributer switches.

closes contacts 86 and 87, completing a circuit from battery conductor17, through'mt the winding of the pilot relay 88, conductor arisen uponthis particular trunk line.

The operator, observing the display of lamp signal 90, inserts theanswering plug cated by the display of the lamp 90.

92 of her cord circuit into the jack 93 indi- The insertion of this pluginto the jack closesa circuit from the live pole of battery A, throughsleeve supervisory relay 94, conductor 95,

sleeve contacts. 96 and 97 of the plug and jack, conductor 98 and thecoil of trunk cutoff relay 65, to ground. The current in this pathactuates relay 94 and 65. The actuation of relay 65 serves the circuitof trunk r'elay 72 and contacts 70 and 71 of relay 65 and severs theground connection of conductor 62 at contacts 63 and 64 of relay 65. Theactuation of relay 65'also closes its contacts 99 and 77 and interruptscontacts 7 7 and 76.

The ound connection is thus maintained upon private conductor 78,through contacts 99'and 7 7 The interruption of the circuit throughtrunk relay 72 permits that relay to fall back and open the circuit ofthe trunk lamp 90, thus eifacing that signalpAtthe same time the groundconnection is severed from conductor 80, thus freeing the commonconductor 84 from its ground connection and permitting other calls to bereceived in this particular section of the switchboard. Since it isdesirable to record the number of calls appearing before this particularoperator,

I the relay 72 is provided with an additional pair of contacts 101 and102, which, when rapidly closed, completea circuit from batteryconductor 17, through the Winding 103 of relay 104, conductor-105 andcontacts .102 and 101 of relay 72 to'ground. The current in thispathactuates relay 104, closing its contacts 106 and 107 in the circuit ofthe call counter 108, thus recording one call. It would not be desirableto permit the calling subscriber to record a large number of calls bymoving his receiver hook up and down and thereby energizing anddeenergizing trunk relay 7 2 and consequently the coil 103 of relay 104.Therefore a locking coil 109 is providedfor relay 104, which maintainsthe actuation of that relay, if the subscriber hangs up his receiver,over -the circuit which may be traced from battery. a conductor 17, Fig.1, through thecoil 48 ofcut-oif relay 14, the coil 49 of cut-in relay21. conductor 50, contacts 51 and 31' of cut-offrelay 14. contacts 23and of cut-in relay 21, private conductor 33, segment 34, brush 35 andcontact 39 of the distributer switch, private conductor 7 8, contacts 77and 76 of trunk cut-off relay 65, conductor 80, contacts.

' 81 and 82 of key 83, common conductor 84,

coil 109, and contacts 110 and 111 of relay 104, to ground. It will beseen,.therefore, that relay 104, after once being actuated, will remainactuated whether relay 72 is actuated or not. until the operator hasconnected with the jack of the calling trunk and has actuated trunkcut-off relay 65. When this relay is actuated the circuit through thelocking coil 109, of relay 104, is interrupted at contacts 76 and 77 ofrelay 7 65, and relay 104 therefore resumes its normal position, readyto record a second call when this operators position is again selected.

The resistance of the coil 109 of relay 104 is preferably made quitelow, so that during the actuation of that relay the ground connectionthrough contacts 111 and'110, the coil 109 of relay 104 and conductor 84will be sufficient to bar other calls from coming in on any of thetrunks extending to this particular group.

hen a subscriber removes his receiver and then replaces it, and thusactuates relay 104, the operators attention will be called by theflashing of the trunk lamp 90,

and, the operator can then depress her callbarring key 114 to complete ashunt about the coil 109 of relay 104' and again release that relay. 1fthe operator does not notice the flashing of the lamp 90, relay 104 willbe released when any regular manual subscriber makes a call in thisparticular operators division by the actuation of pilot relay 115 whichwill be described later, and the closing of contacts 116 and 117 of thatrelay, thus connecting a shunt about the coil 109 of relay 104.

- The connection of the operators plug 92 ,with the jack 93 completes acircuit from the live pole of.battery A through supervisory relay 94,sleeve conductor 95, sleeve contact 96 of the plug and ring contact 118of the pack 93, conductor 69, contact 68, brush 6'7 and": segment 59 ofthe distributer switch, contacts 57 and 56 of cut-in relay 21, contacts53 and 12 of, cut-01f relay 14, line conductor 7, transmitter 9,receiver 10, switchhook 11, line conductor 8, contacts 18 and-52 ofcut-off relay 14, contacts 54 and 55 of cutin relay 21, segment 58,brush 60 and contact 61 of the' distributer "switch, conductor 62, thetip contacts 119 and 120 of the jack and plug, conductor 121 and thecoil of tip supervisory relay 122 to the ground pole of battery A. Thecurrent in this path increases the magnetizationof supervisory relay 94and' actuates supervisory relay 122, thus preventing the answeringsupervisory lamp 123' from being displayed at this'time.

The operator now obtains the number of the desired subscrioe'rs l ne inthe usual wayand inserts her calling plug 124 into the jackof-thedesired line, whetherthis be a line provided with; a distributerswitcher a line of the ordinary manual type, the

11119.3 of different type being provided with the same kind of multiplejacks. The insertion of the plug 124 into the jack" of a regular line,as shown at the right of Fig. 3, closes a circuit from the live pole ofbat: tery A, through the coil of supervisory relay 125, conductor 126,contacts 127 and 128 of the operators ringing key, sleeve contacts 129and 130 of theplug and jack and the coil of cut-off relay 131 to theground pole of battery A. The current in this path actuates cut-offrelay 131, moving" its con-' tacts to their abnormal positions and thusseparating the limbs 7 and 8 of the telephone line from their normalconnection with battery andground. The actuation of relay 125 closes itscontacts 132 and 133, thus completing the circuit of the callingsupervisory signal 134 to display. that Sig-- nal. The operator nowdepresses her ringing key and connects the alternating current generator138 with the tip of the calling plug. The current therefore passes overthe tip contacts 139 and'140. of the calling plug and jack, lineconductor 8, ringer 6, condenser 5, line conductor 7, ring contact 141of-the jack and contact 129 of the plug, contacts-128 and 142 of theoperators ringing key and the non-inductive resistance 143 to batteryconductor 17 and'thence back to the generator 138. The current in thispath passes through condenser 5 and actuates the bell at the desiredsubscribers station.

When the desired subscriber answers his call a circuit is completed fromthe live. Pole of battery A, through the coil of supervisory relay 125,conductor 126, contacts'127' and 128 of the operators ringing key,sleeve contact 129 and ring contact 141 of the plug and jack, lineconductor 7, transmitter 9, re-

ceiver 10, contacts of switch-hook 11, line conductor 8, tip contactsand 139 of the jack and plug, series contacts 144 and 145 ofthe'operators ringing key, contacts 146. and 147 of the operatorslistening key,- conduc tor 148 and the coil of tip supervisory re-. lay149, to the ground pole of battery A. The current in this path actuatesthe tip supervisory relay 149 and efi'ace's the supervisory signal 134,The calling and called subscribers are now" in conversation and all.signals are in their unactuated condiwith which they are connected.

tion at the central oflice. VVh'en these subscribers replace theirreceivers upon their respective switch-hooks the circuits through tipsupervisory'relays 122 and'149 are severed-and the supervisory lamps 134and 123 are displayed, the display ofthese signals indicating to theoperator thatthe conversation has been terminated and that the plugsshould-ibe removed from the jacks The circuit of "the answeringsupervisory signal 123 is carried through conducto iil'gl.

traced from the live pole of battery A and the coil. of pilot relay152.. This relay has normally open contacts 153 and 154, adapted whenclosed to ground the common conductor 84, which, as formerly explained,prevents calls from bein received on the trunk lines appearing in this".particular group, the purpose ofthis being to make the operator promptin removing the plugs fromthe. jacks at the termination of aconversation. The undistributed lines with whichthis same cord circuitmay be connected for answering regular manual calls may be of the typejust described and shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 3. The lineextending to subscribers station 3 is of this character, the limb 7 ofthis line passing normally-through the coil of a line relay in a mannerwell known in the art. The actuation of this line relay, upon theremovalof the receiver from the switch-hook at the subscribers station3, closes its contacts 156 and 157, thus completing the circuit of the 1line lamp 158 in the usual manner. The

circuit of this line lamp extends through conductor 159 and thecoil ofpilot relay 115 so that the actuation of this line lamp, or the lamp ofany'other line terminating at this particularposition in theswitchboard, will cause the actuation of relay 115. The actuation ofthis relay closesits contacts 116 and 117, placing ground upon thecommon conductor 84 and thus preventing any of the trunk lines extendingto this particular operators group being selected by any {of thedistributer switches. Relay 115 also has normally open contacts 160 and161,

which complete the circuit ofv the pilot lamp 162, which is displayedwhenever a. call, either regular or distributed, appears in thisparticular operators group.

It is to be understood that thecalling plug 121 may be inserted into themultiple jack of one of the lines provided with a distributer switch.When this is done the operation of the cord circuitand ofv the re-- laysassociated therewith is- I exactly the same as whenthe cord is connectedwith a regular manual line. The cut-oil" relay 14 is pulled up in thesame manner as cut-off relay 131 of the manualline. The circuit foractuating this cut-off relay-"l4 may be, to the coil of supervisoryrelay 125, sleeve conductor 126, contacts 127 and 128 of theoperators'ringing key, sleeve contact-129 and ring contact of the plugand jack, con-- ductor 171, contacts 56 and 172- ofcut-in relay21,conductor 46 and the coil 47 of cutofl:' relay 14, to ground. Thecurrent in this path 7 actuates cut-01f relay-14," connecting the'limbsof theteleph'on'e line directly. with thetip and ring contacts of thejack. The sleeve contacts of these multiple jacks are preferablyconnected directly with the. ring contacts so that the busy condition isestablished upon the multiple in the case of incoming calls as soon asan idle trunk has been selected.

' One group If, in case of an extreme rush of calls, it is desired toallow the distributed calls to appear before the operators even thoughthey already have unanswered calls before them, the buttons 83 may bepressed, thus individualizing each of the trunk lines so that neitherregular manual calls nor other distributed calls will'connect groundbattery the private conductors of the various trunks. Thus the callswill be received on any trunk linewhich is not actually busy itself.

Each'operato1"s position is preferably divided into two groups,preferably equipped with the apparatus shown and described herein. WhileI do not desire to limit my. invention to two groups, this number willbe found to be convenient, as in this manner the operator may have adistributed call in each group simultaneously and thus she may,duringthe busiest period, have one call ahead ofher at all times-thatis, a call may appear in one group while sheis answering a call in theother group, and a second Gall may apsystem, when a largenumber of linesterminate before an operator, it frequently occurs that a rush of callswill not only use-up all of the operators available cordgcircuits, butwill, in addition, so overwork the operator that subscribers will berequired to wait longer for replies to their calls than could beexpected of the most patient subscriber, IVith my system, however, thenumber of regular subscribers lines terminating before any operator iskept to sucli a minimum that the operator can answer the-calls duringthe rush periods, not only withoutfiusing up all of her cord circuits,but without making it necessary for subscribers to wait a considerablelength of time before their calls are answered. It seldom happens thatthe.

rush period occurs before all'o eratorssimultaneously, and with-my systm an open" ator who is rushedby reason of a large number of calls on herregular manual subscrib- .ers lines does 'not'receive any of the callswhich come in upon the distributed lines until all of the-manual callshave been answered; 7 If, then, the operator-7s cord drnearly equalizedand, therefore,

and each group is cuits, are almost exhausted she may depress her totalbarring button and thus prevent any distributed calls'from appearing inher position, these calls being given to operators who are at that timecaught up with their calls and who have available cord circuits. It willbe found that with this system the operators loads in calls per hourwill be I that the number of operators for answering a given number ofcalls can be considerably reduced since all of these operators will beworked up to substantially the limit of their speed at all times, andthere will never be operators who have scarcely any calls to answerwhile other operators are greatly rushed.

While I have shown and described my in.- vention with respect to certaindefinite and well-known manual systems, it is to-be understood that itmay be applied to other systems and that the specific circuit'arrange'ments may. be largely altered without in any way departing from thespirit or scope of my invention.

I claim 1. In a telephone system, the combination with a oup ofundistributed lines, of a group 0 trunk linesassociated therewith,automatic distributer switches adapted to connect with said trunk lines,a call register common to said trunk lines and automatic means foractuating it and means to prevent the actuation of said call registerwhen there is an unanswered call upon an undistributed line in saidgroup.

2. In a telephone system, the combination with an undistributedtelephone line, of a trunk line terminating at the same operatorsposition as the undistributed line, a

call register for the trunk line and auto= matic means for actuatin it,and means to prevent the operation- 0 the call register when there is anunanswered call upon the undistributed line. i

3. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephonelines, of a plurality of jacks in a group upon the switchboard,automatic distributer switches adapted to connect-calling lines withsaid jacks, a call counter-for said groupv adapted to registencalls'comin'ginto said group and answered by the operator in charge of saidgroup. i

4:. In a telephone system, the combination with a'telephone line, of ajack, a distributor switch for connecting said line and said jack whenthe receiver is removed from the switch-hook at the substation ofv saidline. a call counter for .recording' a call upon said jackwhen ithasbeen answered by the operator, and means to prevent the false operationof the call counter when the circuit' is. made and broken a number oftimes at the calling subscribers station before the operator hasresponded to the call.

5. In a telephone system, the combination with a telephone line, of adistributer switch therefor, a trunk to which the line is adapted to beextended, a call counter common to a plurality of such trunks andadapted to recordo'ne count when a call is received upon said trunk andanswered by.

the operator, and means to prevent the movement of the switch-hook atthe calling subscribers station from registering false calls upon saidcounter.

6. In a telephone system, the combination with a telephone line, of atrunk line, a distributer switch for connecting said line and trunk linetogether, a counterfor a plurality of such trunk lines, and means toprevent more than one line being connected with said plurality oi trunklines simultaneously whereby the call counter will receive but one'callat a time. I

7. In a telephone system, the combination with a' roup of undistributedlines, of a group 0 trunk lines associated therewith, means to preventcalls from appearin upon thejtrunk lines when unansweredca s appear uponthe undistributed lines, and a call fa nter to record the callsuponthe-trunk 8. In a telephone system, the combination with avplurality of trunk lines, of a' 'call counter therefor, automatic meansto individually associate said call counter with said trunks one at 'atime to register the number of calls received upon said pluralityoftrunkllines, and means to prevent the. simultaneousassociation of morethan one trunkwith aregister.

9.- In a tele hone system, the combination I with a luraht ,of lampsignals, of means to 'disp ay sa'i signals one at a time, a counter adated to-automatlcally record the number of mdividualcalls as indicated bythe disnlav of said lamp signals, and an '10. In a telephone system,the'combinsh tion with an electromagnetic service meter,

of a group of multipled points through electromagnet having its circuitcompletedonce for each display of each signal.

which said service meter'may be controlled,

means to establish a controlling connection with one of said multipledpoints to operate said meter, means to automatically revent acontrolling connection being esta lished with any other 'multipled pointof said group, and means to remove the preventing means from certaincontacts-of said group without removing it from other contacts of saidgroup.

,11. In a telephone system, the combination with a service meter, of acontrolling magnet therefor connected in a common circuit, the circuitofsaid magnet being open at a plurality of multipled points,

.65 means to close a .circuit through one of said points to actuate saidcontrolling magnet, T

and means to isolate the closed point from the common circuitwhereby-the common circuit may be closedat other of the multi pledpoints.

12. In a telephone system, the'combination with a plurality of talkingcircuits,-of'

a single counter to re 'ster the total number of calls originate onsaid-talking cirmeans associated with each'of said talking circuits forcompleting the circuit of said magnet .to records. connection, and meansto prevent the circuit of said magnet being closed at twov lacessimultaneously where'- 'by the recordingof less than the correct numberof calls is prevented. V Signed by me at Rochester, county .of Monroe,and State of New ,YOIk, in the presence oftwo witnesses.

' HENRY P. CLAUSEN. Witnesses:

CHARLES E. HAGUE, E. A. REINKE.

'75 cuits', a controlling magnet for said counter,-

